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CoolAvenues' Interview with:
Jeannette
Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode.

1. General Questions
2. Questions related to Pre-MBA Preparation
3. Questions related to Group Discussion / Group Exercise
4. Interview-related Questions
5. After Joining MBA

Q. Date and location of Interview. Were you given the option to choose? Was the interview date fixed or rescheduled couple of times.
A. 8th February 2006. Bangalore. The interview venue was in accordance with the preferences I filled out in the CAT application form. There was no rescheduling of the interview.

Q. Can you tell us about the panel that interviewed you?
A. The panel had two members. They were very friendly and in no way attempted to psyche me out. I later found out that they were professors of OB and Eonomics which probably explained the absence of quant questions in my interview.

Q. How long was your interview?
A. It lasted for 20 minutes.

Q. What was the first question? The most interesting question? The most difficult question?

A. First question was the usual "Tell me about yourself". The most interesting one was when I was asked about the approach I would take to reduce naxalism in AP. The most difficult one was probably justifying Corporate Social Responsibility Programs adopted by many IT companies (since I was a volunteer for Satyam's CSR arm).

Q. How did you prepare for the interview? While facing the panel, were you confident, did you feel prepared?
A. Interview preparation consisted of reading a lot of magazines to improve general awareness. Other than a mild case of butterflies in my stomach, I felt reasonably confident.

Q. Was any feedback given to you? What feedback did you receive from the panel at the end of session?
A. At the end of the interview, I was told that I would enjoy living in Kerala (which I hoped was a tacit acknowledgement that I had made it through).

Q. Did work experience help in getting the choice of your school and also in dealing with the curriculum?
A. Having work experience helped through the selection process as I was more confident and I was fairly sure of what sort of subjects I would like to major in. In addition, it helps to get the most of the subjects that I study right now in that I am able to appreciate their practical applications better.

Q. Getting into and sailing through a B-school is easier for a Science Graduate than for someone from Humanities background. Your comments please.
A. Maybe not getting in but science graduates definitely have an edge during the course because a lot of the subjects are heavily quant oriented and many non-science students face problems.

Q. What points did you consider in deciding the right time to go for the program and to start preparing?
A. The level of comfort with the paper and the level of prior preparation were the points I considered.

Q. Will an MBA degree add on to your existing career plan or did you decide to switch/start a career in management?
A. Since I am looking at a career in IT Consulting, an MBA degree would be a valuable add-on.

Q. Why did you decide to do MBA from this school?
A. Since it is an IIM.

Q. Were you able to get the school of your choice or did you compromise and opted for the best option that was open/available for you?
A. Dreamed of studying in an IIM, so it wasn't a compromise.

Contd.   5. After Joining MBA